Chicago Counselor

Mary-Lauren O’Crowley, MA, NCC, LPC  Do you find that you say “yes” when you want to say “no”? Do you often play Devil’s Advocate? Do you tend to go with the flow, not offering your own opinion? Do you often get referred to as “generous”, “kind,” or “helpful”? You may be a people pleaser. When we think of pleasing those around us, this might not sound so bad. Most of us have an innate need for community and…

Mary-Lauren O’Crowley, MA, NCC, LPC Many of us have heard about regulating our emotions but not as many may know about regulating our nervous system. Yes, we can in fact intentionally relax our nervous system and help our bodies to get out of the fight, flight, freeze state. Our nervous system is responsible for respiration, heart rate, body temperature, digestion, and metabolism. More specifically, our sympathetic nervous system controls the fight-flight-freeze response. Our parasympathetic nervous system controls the…

Mary-Lauren O’Crowley, MA, NCC, LPC Did you know that chronic stress can have a negative impact on both your mental and physical health? In order for the body to thrive, it needs to be able to deal with stress in healthy and adaptive ways that ultimately allow the body to recover. You may be asking what is classified as chronic stress? Chronic stress is a continuous feeling of pressure and overwhelms stemming from both professional, personal, and…

Mary-Lauren O’Crowley, MA, NCC, LPC  The average person has up to 60,000 thoughts per day. Most of our decisions are based on this inner dialogue, and yet, for many of us, this inner dialogue is not pleasant, encouraging, or reassuring. While self-talk and even introspection are important, as it allows us to become aware of our strengths as well as areas for growth, we often confuse constructive criticism with destructive criticism. Begin observing our inner dialogue and…

Mary-Lauren O’Crowley, MA, NCC, LPC When you are the first to arrive at work and the last to leave, have never missed a deadline or a meeting, and are always prepared, most people will find it difficult to believe you could actually have an anxiety disorder. Some types of anxiety may not present themselves in the most obvious ways. While anxiety disorders can cause feelings of overwhelm, fear, and panic, they can also lead to overthinking, people-pleasing,…

Steven Losardo, LMFT Music Therapy and Its Intersections With Wellness When you hear the words ‘music therapy’ what comes to mind? You may have tons of questions, such as, “does music therapy actually work?” or “what exactly IS music therapy?” One thing is for certain: music touches the soul in ways words simply can’t.   This soul connection is what makes music therapy so incredibly powerful for all people (Tams, 2021). As a result, music therapy can help…

Amanda Ann Gregory, LCPC, EMDR Certified EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a type of therapy that uses bilateral stimulation (such as eye movements, pulsars, and sounds) to process distressing memories and reprocess negative core beliefs. EMDR has been shown to treat many different psychological and physical conditions, such as trauma, complicated grief, substance abuse, anxiety, phobias, chronic pain, dissociation, and stress.   As a seasoned certified EMDR therapist, one of the most common questions that I…

Amanda Ann Gregory, LCPC, EMDR Certified Therapist  Everyone breaks up with their therapist at some point. It’s rare to participate in therapy with the same therapist for your entire life. The decision to end the therapeutic relationship can be made by the client, the therapist, or both, and it is made for many different reasons.  Are you feeling that it may be time to break up with your therapist? Consider these reasons:  You Don’t Have a Good…

Steven Losardo, LMFT We devote our resources such as time, money, and talents to cultivate our careers. We learn, prepare, practice, learn in real-time, and repeat. Meanwhile, as personal lives overlap, and with no shortage of self-growth options, we similarly devote our resources to self-improvement. In the process, we overlook the importance of our most intimate relationship- marriage.  We will spend resources on things like losing weight or joining a gym to look damn good for our…